Nothing Can Change This
by Joanie Red
Summary: Slight AU/same setting. Arizona moves to Seattle after a relationship breakdown and meets Callie. Callie's already in a relationship, but becomes increasingly drawn to her.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Callie stumbled blearily out to the kitchen, yawning. Her head was thumping and she felt like she needed to shave her tongue. She'd had more glasses of wine than she could count before coming home and falling into bed.

The sun was streaming in through the windows and she squinted as she headed for the coffee machine, honing in on it like someone in the desert who'd just found a water source. After she'd put the pot on, she poured herself a big glass of water and threw her head back, drinking thirstily. A sound coming from the lounge room made her jump and she almost spat out her mouthful of water.

"Jesus!" she said as a blonde head of hair appeared from behind the sofa.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," the woman said. She was smiling broadly in a way that showed dimples, and she looked _way_ too perky for someone who had just woken up.

Callie stared at her wordlessly for a moment, quickly realizing through the fog of her hangover that this must be Cristina's guest. Callie and her roommate had both been busier than usual lately – they'd barely seen one another for the past couple of weeks. The exact time that this woman was getting here to stay with them had slipped Callie's mind.

"Oh. Arizona, right?" Callie finally said.

Though she hadn't paid much attention to the details, it was the sort of name that stuck in a person's mind. Callie had grumbled about them not having enough space for an extra person - even one that was happy to crash on the sofa. With Angie staying here half of the time and Owen doing the same, the apartment could start to feel crowded pretty fast. Cristina had insisted that Arizona was only going to stay for a couple of weeks until she could find something more permanent. Arizona didn't know anyone else in Seattle aside from Cristina.

"Right. And you're Callie?" Arizona asked pleasantly.

"Mmm-hmm," Callie said, forcing herself to sound polite. If there was one thing she hated more than small talk, it was small talk first thing in the morning. She needed caffeine before she could deal with it. "Would you like some coffee? I've just put on a pot."

"Sure, that would be great," Arizona said enthusiastically, rising to come over to the kitchen.

Callie looked down at herself. She was wearing only a T-shirt and her underwear. She was standing behind the counter where Arizona couldn't see below her waist, and she'd managed to forget.

"Excuse me for a sec," she said, walking back to her bedroom to get her robe while Arizona discreetly averted her eyes. This was the exact reason she'd been reluctant to let someone else stay in the apartment. An extra person meant she had an extra reason to have to wear pants. Cristina had lectured her several times about not walking around the apartment in her underwear or in a towel. They'd made a deal that she would dress herself more often if Cristina would agree to try to not be such a slob.

When she got back from her room Arizona was already pottering around the kitchen, opening cupboards and clearly trying to figure out where everything was.

"Up there," Callie pointed, indicating where their coffee mugs were kept. She pulled the belt of her silk robe more tightly around her waist.

"Thanks," Arizona said as she took down one for each of them. "So you're a surgeon too, huh? You'll have to give me the scoop on the hospital. I start tomorrow."

"Yep, Ortho. You?" Callie said, rubbing sleep from her eye. She quickly took in Arizona's grey tank top and boxers - and her legs. She had nice legs. They were slim and smooth-looking, accented by muscle.

"Pediatrics," Arizona said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Of course she was. This woman and her sunny disposition practically screamed, _"I work with children"_. Caliie sat down at one of the bar stools against the counter top. Arizona had made herself comfortable in the kitchen and had taken over coffee making duties. Callie gratefully took a steaming mug and warmed her hands on the sides. The ache that had been pounding at her temples disappeared as soon as she took a couple of mouthfuls.

"I'm going to make breakfast, did you want some eggs?" Arizona asked.

Callie snorted. "Sorry, but you're not going to find any food in that fridge. There's a market down the street." Though she loved cooking, she never had much time to do it. She ate take-out or at the hospital more often than not and Cristina was the same. Their fridge was not exactly well stocked.

"Oh no, I went and got some stuff last night."

Callie frowned. "I thought you must have gotten in pretty late? You weren't here when I got home."

"Oh, I was here. Cristina let me in before she went to work." Arizona grinned at her. "I was already on the sofa when you got in."

"Sorry if I woke you," Callie said with embarrassment. Her view of Arizona would have been blocked by the back of the sofa in the same way that it had been this morning. When she thought back to the night before she remembered pouring herself one last glass of wine from an open bottle in the fridge. She'd taken it into her bedroom with her, and had fallen asleep before she could drink it. She could only imagine how noisy she'd been - crashing around drunkenly in the dark. She'd gotten into an argument with her girlfriend at Joe's, and Angie had stormed off on her. It had left her in the mood to drown her sorrows.

"No problem," Arizona replied.

They fell into silence while Arizona cooked and Callie watched, her hand propped under her chin.

"So tell me how you know Cristina again?" Callie asked after a while. Cristina had probably mentioned it, but she couldn't remember what she'd said. Callie hadn't given much thought to Arizona before she'd gotten here, but now that they'd met she was puzzled. Arizona seemed nice enough, but she just didn't seem like Cristina's type when it came to friends. She just came across as so . . . wholesome. Exactly the opposite of Callie's ruthless, sarcastic roommate.

"Stamford. We were pretty tight back then, but we haven't seen each other much. We've kept in touch though. She e-mails me a lot – sounds like she's been kicking ass in Cardio," Arizona explained.

"Oh yeah, she's the best," Callie agreed. "So what brings you to Seattle? I mean, I know you're going to be working at Seattle Grace, but what were you doing before?"

"John Hopkins. I was the Chief of Pediatric Surgery there," Arizona said, stirring the scrambled eggs.

"Wow," Callie smiled properly for the first time since they'd started talking. Stanford _and _John Hopkins? Either of them alone would be a big deal but the combination was more than impressive. "But you're not going to be chief here unless I'm missing something? So won't this be a bit of a step down for you?"

Arizona shrugged, and looked over her shoulder at Callie. She was still smiling but Callie sensed a dent in her cheerful exterior. "Life stuff. I needed a change."

"Right, sure," Callie replied awkwardly, pretty sure she'd put her foot in her mouth. Arizona was probably going through a nasty divorce or something. She could picture Arizona married to a handsome husband, settled down in a big house. It couldn't be easy for her to move into the type of apartment that had no food and no guest room. "Well I'm not knocking Seattle Grace. I mean, I work there and I'm no slouch," she joked.

Arizona waved the egg flip over her shoulder as though to punctuate her words. "Oh I know. And Cristina's there - we all knew she was going to do great things."

After they'd eaten, Callie took their plates and rinsed them. It was a little annoying to have a guest, but if Arizona was going to regularly cook and make coffee like that then it would make it bearable.

"Thanks. I'm going to go have a shower if you don't need the bathroom," Callie said.

"Sure," Arizona nodded. "Hey Callie, _nice_ singing by the way."

Callie looked back at her blankly, but then a flashback entered her mind of belting out an old Belinda Carlisle song in the kitchen. She'd forgotten all about that, but her singing was a regular thing especially when she was drunk. It had always driven Cristina nuts.

"Glad you liked it," Callie smirked. If Arizona were going to live here, she'd just have to get used to that sort of thing.

Cristina caught up with her while she was walking down the hall, her hands jammed into the pockets of her lab coat. Callie had just gotten a pissy-sounding text message from Angie about the night before. They'd been at each others' throats for weeks now, and it felt like Angie kept needling her even after she thought they were past their last fight. As a result the time in between fights was getting shorter and shorter.

"Hey. I heard you met our new roomie," Cristina said.

Callie stopped in her tracks, turning to her and pointing a finger at her chest. "She is not our new roomie. You'd better be helping her look for a new place to live. I'm not having Barbie lying on our sofa for the next few months while she gets her shit together."

Cristina scoffed. "Barbie? Badass Surgery Barbie maybe_. _We were crazy competitive with one another at school." Callie looked at Cristina's face, which was bearing that look of relish she always got over a friendly fight with a colleague. She was surprised that Arizona could match someone like Cristina, but now their friendship made more sense to her.

"Whatever. Just hurry it up. You know I never liked this idea in the first place, so don't let her get too comfortable."

"She won't over stay her welcome, she's not that sort of person. Did you two not get off to a good start? I thought you'd get along," Cristina mused.

Callie looked down at her pager, which had just started beeping, and sighed. "No, she's fine. Like I keep saying, we just don't have the space. I gotta run."

When Callie arrived home late that night with Angie in tow, Arizona and Cristina were sitting around on the bar stools. The two of them were laughing as she opened the door. Callie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how loud they sounded. She was exhausted and she knew that she and Angie were going to have to talk about a few things, but after that she'd hoped to go right to sleep. The last thing she felt like doing was listening to this pair reminisce over the good old days at Stanford – she was sure that she'd be able to hear them through the wall.

"Hey ladies," Cristina welcomed them.

"Hi," Angie said to Cristina then smiled at Arizona, somewhat stiffly. She wasn't good with new people. Callie remembered her manners.

"Arizona this is my girlfriend Angie, Angie this is Cristina's friend Arizona. She's starting at the hospital tomorrow. Angie's Cardio," Callie explained flatly. She just wanted to get away to her room.

"Oh cool. Nice to meet you," Arizona said, holding out her hand to shake Angie's. Callie didn't miss the way Arizona's eyes subtly flicked between the two of them with interest. She felt a surge of irritation – she hated it when straight people looked at them like they were a novelty. It spurred her on to cut the conversation even shorter.

"Well, we're actually both pretty tired. We'll leave you to it," Callie announced, pulling Angie by the hand. She scowled as she heard another burst of laughter coming from the two of them as she closed the bedroom door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

For the next couple of weeks Callie maintained a polite but distant relationship with their house guest. She welcomed Arizona to the hospital when she bumped into her there, and they talked when they both found themselves in the kitchen at the same time. It was obvious that Arizona was being as considerate as she could – she was unobtrusive and friendly. She had fast showers and kept her suitcases packed in the corner. The blankets and pillows on the sofa were always neatly folded as soon as she got up in the morning.

Despite all of that, her presence irritated Callie. She couldn't stay up late at night watching TV because the sofa was in use, and whenever Arizona and Cristina were both free from work they always made too much noise with their constant one-upping about surgeries, not to mention their partying.

They both seem to have forgotten that their school days were well and truly behind them. Arizona and Cristina appeared to be making up for lost time from not seeing one another a lot over recent years. Whenever they could they would going out drinking, or spend their time doing it in the apartment. Though she didn't like to admit it their fun made Callie feel envious. These days she usually only went out for a drink with Angie. She missed having fun with girlfriends. Cristina and Arizona were always giggling and carrying on in a way that she half resented, and half longed for.

Callie was rummaging through the fridge for something to eat when she found a bowl of leftovers. It was a Friday night and Angie was working, so she was planning to watch a movie or some TV before going to bed. The leftovers looked like some sort of Asian chicken salad that Arizona must have made. She figured that Arizona wouldn't really notice if she helped herself to a bowl of it. Dishing some out, she stood at the counter stabbing pieces of chicken and salad onto her fork. She had no idea what Arizona had put in it, but it tasted pretty amazing.

The door opened and Cristina came barrelling into the apartment with Meredith and Arizona. Callie observed how drunk they all looked, Meredith's face slightly flushed and everyone's eyes having the unfocussed look that was a dead give away. Callie sighed to herself – so much for her quiet night in.

"Na na na na na na na TEQUILA!" Cristina called out, the other two joining her for the last shouted word. She started gathering supplies – shot glasses, bottle, salt shaker and lemons – while Callie watched her warily.

"I can cut up that lemon for you," she offered, taking it from Cristina. It didn't seem like a good idea to let her near a knife right now.

While she was slicing them up, Arizona appeared at her side. Callie glanced at her. She was wearing a bright blue dress and she clumsily pulled herself up to sit on the counter top.

"Hey Callie, what have you been up to?"

"Not much," Callie answered. "You guys having a good night?"

"Yep, only these ladies weren't impressed with the music where we were and insisted on coming back here. Hope you don't mind.," Arizona said, her words only slightly slurred.

"No, that's fine." She saw Arizona notice her bowl of salad on the counter top. "Oh, I hope you don't mind, I helped myself."

"Not at all, you're always welcome to whatever I cook," Arizona said. "I'd say my house is your house but I think it's the other way 'round at this point."

Callie smiled indulgently at her, like you did to a drunk person who wasn't really conscious of how drunk they were. Callie begrudgingly had to admit that she didn't mind the company. As much as she'd been looking forward to just relaxing, she had been a bit bored before they'd all gotten here.

"Did you know that Cristina calls Derek McDreamy?" Arizona asked her, out of nowhere.

"Yeah, a few people call him that now but Cristina was the one who started it," Callie explained.

"Hmm," Arizona looked thoughtful, then leaned down towards Callie and whispered loudly. "I don't see what the big deal is. He's not that good looking."

Callie laughed. Arizona might as well have shouted that sentence. And Callie had never found Derek attractive, but she could see why other people did. "Really? What guy at work do you think is good looking then?"

Arizona frowned as though she were thinking, but then they were interrupted by the sound of loud music and the accompanying "woooooot" noise Meredith was making. "Dance party time!" Meredith yelled. "C'mon Arizona, come dance with us."

Callie watched while Arizona hopped down and ran over to join them. She couldn't figure out whether she should be insulted given that Meredith and Cristina were always dancing and they never invited her. Not even now, when she was standing right there. She happened to like dancing. A lot, actually. Callie lined up a row of shots for them and at the last minute added a glass for herself. When there was a break between songs she called them over and Cristina slapped her hand when she realized that Callie was doing a shot with them too.

"You're drinking with us? You never drink with me any more!" Cristina yelled, pulling her in for a sloppy hug.

When they'd all finished their shots Cristina went back to the impromptu dance floor, this time taking Callie by the hand and pulling her over while she laughed. She'd still had the slice of lemon in her mouth and she had to put it down on the nearest available surface.

There was an eye-opening moment for Callie when she realized her earlier jealousy had been ridiculous. They didn't invite her any more because she always said no to drinking and to dancing. Meredith and Cristina could be a bit exclusive, but they weren't that rude. It was nice to not say no for once.

"Callie can show us how it's done! Callie, do some salsa dancing, I know you know how!" Cristina said.

"Are you stereotyping me because I'm Latina?" Callie joked.

"Well you can, can't you?" Cristina encouraged her. "I'll dance with you."

"Alright, but we're gonna need better music than this," Callie said, rifling through her CD collection until she found a song that had the right type of beat. Cristina and Callie awkwardly moved while Meredith and Arizona watched.

Callie was laughing while she tried to show Cristina how to do the steps, but quickly gave up in frustration. Cristina was way too drunk for this. She kept flopping around like a fish against Callie, and then half falling over while Callie tried to keep her upright. "I think we should try this another time," Callie yelled over the music.

"Okay," Cristina agreed. "But you should still dance for us, I love watching you."

"Yeah, shake what your mama gave you Callie!" Meredith chimed in.

Callie hesitated, not sure if she wanted to put on a show in front of her friends plus one person she barely knew. She couldn't help feeling self-conscious despite the fact that they were all so intoxicated they might not even remember.

Arizona surprised her by stepping towards her. "I'll dance with you. I just so happen to be an excellent salsa dancer," she announced.

Callie looked back at her sceptically. Was this one of those things that being drunk made you convinced you were really good at, like driving perfectly or being good at karaoke? "Alright then, step up," she challenged.

Arizona came forward and Callie reached for her hand, waiting for Arizona to put her other hand on her shoulder. Arizona shook her head. "Uh uh, I'm leading."

"Oh, you're leading are you?" Callie said, smirking to herself reluctantly and placing her hand on Arizona's shoulder. Luckily she considered herself both a decent follower and leader - but she had assumed that Arizona would really only know how to follow like most women.

At first it felt weird with Arizona being shorter than her. They took a minute or two to find out how to move together, just doing basic steps. But Callie noticed right away that Arizona had great posture and she knew how to move her hips. She felt a small smile touching her lips in pleasant surprise.

"Where'd you learn to dance?" Callie asked.

Arizona raised her eyebrows. "Just picked it up somewhere," she said coolly, then winked at Callie to show that she was joking. "I did lessons a few years back". She gently pushed Callie's shoulder and Callie turned. Meredith and Cristina were cheering at first but when the song faded out and another one started she became aware that they had stopped. Callie glanced at them, noticing that they'd gone back to dancing together and weren't watching any more.

"Want to do another one?" Callie asked, slightly breathlessly. It felt good to move like this.

"Sure," Arizona agreed. They were less tentative this time now that they were getting a feel for it. It helped that nobody was watching them. Cristina and Meredith were throwing themselves around dancing and not paying attention to them at all.

One of the first things Callie had learned about this dance was the importance of eye contact. The same was obviously true of Arizona. She never looked away, silently communicating with Callie and using her eyes to help indicate which way she wanted Callie to turn. Callie noticed again what a striking blue her eyes were. The dress brought them out more.

Though she knew it was just part of the dance she felt thrown by the intensity of Arizona's gaze. Once her twice her eyes dropped to Callie's lips. Callie was sure it was accidental - or that it was related to how drunk she was – but if Callie didn't know any better she'd think Arizona was checking her out. It occurred to her that Arizona might be one of those types of women who just liked your interest whether they were into you or not. It had happened to Callie once or twice with straight girls who found out she was into women. Arizona hadn't seemed like the atttention-seeking type, but you never knew.

The thought was quickly forgotten as she became absorbed in the dance once more. Arizona tried to dip her - not very well - and Callie broke out laughing.

"My turn to lead," Callie said. Arizona narrowed her eyes in mock annoyance, but they changed positions. Callie put her hand on Arizona's waist and they started dancing again.

They passed four or songs that way, just messing around and having fun with it. Finally they stopped when Cristina and Meredith interrupted them to say they wanted to do another shot. Callie and Arizona broke apart.

"Thanks, that was fun," Callie said.

"Yeah it was," Arizona said excitedly. "I haven't done that for a while."

"No, me neither," Callie agreed.

"Well you'd never know it. You're really good," Arizona said like she meant it.

"So are you. Well listen, I'm going to go to bed," Callie said. There was no chance of catching up to them when it came to drinking, and she had a feeling this was going to devolve into one of those nights where Meredith and Cristina were holding back one another's hair by the end of it.

"Awww. You sure you don't want to have another drink with us?" Arizona said with genuine disappointment.

"Thanks, but I've got an early morning. I'm going to sneak off," she said, holding a finger to her lips. She didn't want Cristina to notice her early exit and make it hard for her. Cristina and Meredith were over in the kitchen looking deep in conversation.

"Okay, goodnight. Hey – Callie – what's Callie short for anyway? Callista?" Arizona asked.

"Oh – it's Calliope."

"Calliope? That's so pretty," Arizona said. "Calliope." She said again, trying it out. "I don't think I've ever met a Calliope before."

"Uh . . . " Callie said. "How do I say this?"

"I know, I've got a weird name," Arizona said, rolling her eyes self-deprecatingly.

"You do, but it's cool. Goodnight Arizona," Callie said.

"Goodnight," Arizona beamed back at her. Callie walked off, shaking her head slightly but grinning. There were going to be a lot of sore heads in the morning.

**Note: _Thanks so much for all your reviews on the last chapter. Appreciate the heads up about my spelling mistake too - when I have more time I'll go back and fix it. Hope you enjoyed this installment._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Can I have a cup of coffee?" Mark said, leaning in the door frame. "I'm all out."

"Come in," Callie sighed, but only in that what-are-we-going-to-do-with-you tone Mark seemed to earn from her on a daily basis. It was early and when she heard a knock on the door she knew it had to be him. Truth be told she was happy to see him – she'd had a rough couple of days.

Callie poured them each a mug from the still warm pot she'd made and they sat at the kitchen table together.

"Is Angie here?" he nodded towards her bedroom.

"Nah," Callie said. "We had a fight."

"Again? What's up?"

Callie looked over her shoulder, not sure that she really wanted to get into it right now. Arizona wasn't around but she might come in at any minute.

"Ultimatum time. She says that if I don't agree to move in with her that she wants to break it off. Says four years is too long to go without any serious commitment," Callie stared down into her coffee cup, stirring it dejectedly while she spoke.

"And you still don't want to?" he clarified, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Just not right now, that's all I'm saying," Callie said, frustrated. "If we fight this much now, imagine what it'll be like if we move in together. We need to work on stuff before we do that."

Mark held up his hands. "Hey. You know I'm behind you. But I don't get why you won't just end it. I mean – what's the point? You're not having any fun with her. You're not happy."

"I'm not just in it for fun. I love her," Callie pointed out.

Mark was looking at her, an expression of pity on his features. Did people not believe that she loved Angie? The thought made her feel so uncomfortable she didn't even want to let it in. Callie couldn't face examining her own feelings too much about this. She'd made a commitment, she was in a relationship, and as far as she was concerned it was that simple.

"I don't know why you think you're qualified to give relationship advice anyway. You and Lexie are so on-and-off it's ridiculous," Callie grumbled.

"Oh – hey, good morning," Arizona said, interrupting their conversation as she walked back in from the bathroom. She was slipping her shoes on, one hand holding her steady on the kitchen table.

"Hello," Mark greeted her.

Callie introduced them, watching as Arizona ran over to shake his hand.

"I've got to run to work but it was nice to meet you. I'll see you round the hospital I'm sure," Arizona said.

"For sure, see you round," Mark said, his eyes following her as she walked out. "Why didn't you tell me she was so hot? How much longer did you say she was staying?"

Callie ignored the first question. "I don't know, she's still looking for a place to live I guess."

"Well what about my place? I've got a spare room."

"Since when are you looking for a room mate?"

"I've always thought about it, just never gotten around to it."

Callie shrugged. "I'll talk to her. At least she wouldn't have to move far, right?"

Arizona was open to the idea, and Cristina had invited Mark over for dinner to talk about whether it would work.

"Well, I know I'll like the place if it's just like this one," Arizona said sweetly.

"Mark's okay. You'll just have to deal with a constant stream of women coming through the door. He's a slut," Cristina said bluntly.

"Cristina, . . ." Callie said feebly, although it wasn't like she could argue. It was true.

"Are you going to have dinner with us, Callie? Why don't you see if Angie can get away from work for an hour or two? It'd be fun for all of us to hang out," Cristina asked.

Callie flashed a quizzical look at Cristina. She had never known Cristina to make much of an effort for anyone aside from Meredith, and now here she was clearly trying to integrate Arizona into their friendship group. She knew it must be hard for Arizona to move to an entirely new city but surely she could look after herself.

"She's in surgery, but I'll stick around for dinner," Callie replied.

"Yay," Arizona said. "I'm cooking, once Mark sees what I can do in the kitchen he won't be able to turn me down."

Callie laughed to herself. Mark seemed pretty sold on the idea already. Like many decisions in his life, he seemed to have based it mainly on the way Arizona looked. Her eyes went over at Arizona, who had her hair in plaits and who was humming to herself as she pulled down pots and pans and busied herself in the kitchen. Objectively speaking Arizona was a very attractive woman. Callie's eyes roamed down Arizona's body. She'd already noticed her legs, but she had a nice ass too.

Callie looked away guiltily, telling herself there was no need to check out Arizona when Mark could do it all by himself.

Mark started hitting on Arizona as soon as he arrived for dinner. He'd bought a bunch of flowers and fussed over Arizona, saying he was sorry that he hadn't come over to introduce himself sooner and that he would have offered to show her around Seattle if they'd met earlier.

It continued when they sat down to dinner. He raved on and on about how good the food was, leaning in close to her. Callie sat back with a glass of wine watching the show. She got the sense that Arizona wasn't the least bit interested, which surprised her somewhat. When Mark turned on the charm even the smartest of women seemed to fall at his feet. Maybe Arizona was shrewd enough to know that if they were going to live with one another, it wasn't a good idea to have a thing.

When he put his hand on the back of Arizona's chair and she leaned away, Cristina shook her head.

"Mark, cut it out," Cristina said sharply.

He lifted his hands and held them up. "What, what?"

"Stop hitting on her. I invited you over to see if you would get along as room mates."

Arizona shifted in her chair awkwardly, and she glanced across at Callie as she put her fork down. Callie reached over and gently slapped Mark on the side of the head. Everyone laughed and the tension was broken.

"Alriiiight," Mark said, chastised. "Well I think we'd get along great. It's nice just having a perfect room mate fall into my lap."

The three women all groaned in unison at the suggestive way he said those words.

"Thank you. I think it'll be great, on the one condition that you don't hit on me ever again?" Arizona said, but it sounded like a command more than a question.

"Yeah, and you're not Arizona's type anyway. She's into the ladies," Cristina said.

Mark looked at Arizona in surprise. "Well why didn't somebody tell me? A beautiful lesbian moving into my apartment, hopefully bringing other beautiful lesbians with her. A man needs to enjoy such precious moments." Mark said.

"Give it a rest Mark," Callie said, avoiding looking at Arizona. Heat rushed to her face. She'd had absolutely no idea. She thought back over the past couple of weeks – had she ever said anything that showed how clueless she was? She hoped not.

"Who wants dessert?" Cristina asked. "Arizona baked. You'd better keep doing that when you move out, I want you bring me lots of cakes."

"I'm in. Arizona why don't you come over and have a look at the apartment, now that we've established we're on the same page?" Mark suggested.

"Great," Arizona agreed, throwing down her napkin. They left and Callie approached Cristina, who was slicing into the cake.

"You didn't tell me she was gay?" Callie loudly whispered to Cristina, who shrugged.

"I didn't think I had to. Can't you spot your own kind when you see them?"

"Not always!" Callie said. "It just didn't occur to me at all."

"How hetero-sexist of you," Cristina dead-panned.

"Well – I don't know. I assumed she was going through a divorce or something like that."

"She kind of is. Her partner of fifteen years had an affair on her. With her scrub nurse. They all worked at Hopkins and she was the last to know. She came out here to get away from all the scandal. You know, I could have told you all this if you asked," Cristina said.

"That's really sad," Callie said. She could only imagine what it must have been like to have all the gossip at work. All that drama, everyone probably staring at her and whispering behind her back. It had been obvious that Arizona had been having personal problems, but she'd never really thought to ask Cristina about what had happened. She supposed she had kind of had her head up in the clouds recently.

"Yeah. I knew her girlfriend. She went to school with us, and she was the last person I imagined taking up with a nurse, who was on the younger side too. Arizona and Karen were one of those couples who looked like they had it all together," Cristina said.

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard Mark and Arizona's voices in the hall.

"What did you think?" Callie asked Arizona. She met Arizona's eye nonchalantly. It was weird, like in the space of five minutes Arizona had become a completely different person. She was no longer the straight divorcee Callie had been imagining in her head.

"It's a done deal. I'm going to move in as soon as he clears out the spare room."

"It'll just take me a couple of days," Mark added. "I've been using it as a dumping ground for all my stuff."

"Is that okay with you guys?" Arizona said.

"For sure," Cristina said, while Callie agreed at the same time.

"Great, thanks!" Arizona exclaimed, taking the plate with cake and ice cream Cristina had put together.

Callie watched as Arizona cut out a spoon full of dessert, and then she cut her eyes away quickly. She'd always noticed how attractive Arizona was - but she had grown out of crushes on straight women a long time ago so she'd deliberately not given it much thought.

On the day that she moved across the hall, Callie helped Arizona drag her suitcases across. Mark wasn't home but he'd given the go-ahead in the morning and left her with a key. Arizona had knocked on her bedroom door to let her know that she was going and Callie had offered to help her take her things over.

"Oh no, it's okay," Arizona had quickly replied. "I don't have much here."

"No, really, it's fine," Callie insisted. She'd almost walked into a suitcase that was lying on the floor as she spoke, and she smiled awkwardly at Arizona. "Where's the rest of your stuff anyway? Are you still getting it shipped over?" Callie asked as she lifted the case.

"Yeah. A few boxes. But I left most of it. I've bought a new bed and a dresser and stuff, it's getting delivered in the next few days. Mark has a spare mattress for me in the meantime."

"Good, good," Callie said. It made sense to her that having such a nasty break-up would make you want to leave a lot of your life behind.

"Well thanks again for letting me stay. I'm sure I'll see you guys more than a little bit," Arizona said. "You all seem really tight."

Callie nodded. She hesitated, knowing Arizona was probably waiting for her to go home. Now that Arizona was leaving – something she'd been waiting to happen – she felt bad about the way she'd acted. She hadn't really cared about what might be going on for her and hadn't wanted to know.

The thought crossed her mind that she could invite Arizona back for breakfast, but Arizona was probably wanting to settle in to her new place. Callie forced a smile. "Alright, well uh . . . don't be a stranger," she said, backing out of the apartment and seeing Arizona's answering grin in her mind long after she'd left.


End file.
